Reclining-chair



T-. G. MAGUIRB. Reclining-Chair.

Nu. 228,263. Patented J-Qne 1,1880.

YWH'FIEESEE: "IqM w NPETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, D C,

Urrnn STATES ATENT rrroe.

TERRENCE G. MAGUIRE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

RECLINING=CHAIR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 228,263, dated June 1, 1880.

Application filed February'fi, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TERRENOE G. MAGUIRE, of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have in vented an Improvement in Reclining-Chairs, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to chairs, and is shown embodied in a chair having a back hinged or pivoted to the main or seat portion, to enable it to be placed at any desired angle, and provided with righting-springs, to cause it to return to its upright position with relation to the seat portion.

In chairs of this kind hitherto in use the weakening of the righting-springs is often a source of inconvenience, as after being in use some time they lack sufficient strength to raise the back of the chair.

In chairs of this kind, when in proper condition, the back should yield to the pressure applied by the back of the occupant when desired to place it at a greater inclination to the seat portion, and should, under the influence of their righting-springs, follow the occupant as he arises if he desires to place the back at a steeper inclination. A holding device is also employed to retain the chair-back in the desired position.

My present invention consists partly in an adjusting device to enable the righting-sprin gs to be tightened when they have become weak from use, and in a novel holding device for the chair-back.

It also consists in a foot-rest carried on a slide and pivoted so that it may be inverted and slid under the chair when not in use, in which case it forms a portion of the front frame-work of the chair, in combination-with springs to retain it in either position.

Figure l is a side view of a chair embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a rear view of one of the righting-springs and the adjusting device therefor; Fig. 3, a detail showing the foot-rest in position for use, the dotted lines showing it in position to be pushed under the chair, as in Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a sectional detail of the righting-spring adjusting-device, and Fig. 5 a detail showing a fastener to hold the foot-rest in proper position when in use.

The chair-back a, pivoted at 2 to the seat portion b,is acted upon by the righting-springs c, which tend to keep it up at the greatest angle with the seat portion. These springs consist of right and left handed coils 3 4, passing around a rod, d, attached to the seat portion of the chair-frame, their free ends 5 engaging a cross-bar or other convenient portion of the frame-work of the chair-back. The middle portion, 13, of the spring between the coils 3 4 is engaged by a projection, 6, on the tightening-ratchet 0, free to turn on the rod d, and held from turning thereon by a dog, f, shaped as shown in Fig. 4, to be placed over the edge of the frame-work b of the chair-seat and engage the teeth of the tightening-ratchet e.

\Vhen the springs have become too weak from use, or from some other cause, the ratchet e is turned up by a suitable lever (shown in dotted lines, Fig. 4) until the spring is as tense as desired, when the dog f is slipped in. These parts will all be covered when the chair is upbolstered.

The holding device for keeping the chair- .back at the desired angle to the seat portion consists of a toothed arc, g, rigidly attached to the frame of the chair-back, and the holdinglevers h, pivoted at 7 to the side frames or arms of the chair. These holding-levers are provided at their rear ends with a lug, 8, to fall in between the teeth of the arc g, and at their front ends with handles 2', to be depressed by the occupant of the chair in order to remove the lugs 8 from engagement with the teeth of the arcs y when it is desired to change the positi on of the chair-back. These levers are acted upon by springs k, which move them in the direction to engage the arcs g.

The foot-rest l is hinged at 9 to a frame, 112, adapted to slide in suitable guides 12, attached to the chair beneath the seat, and when not in use its cushioned or upholstered part is turned down and the-framem and rest 1 slid back under the chair, in which position its front bar, 0, corresponds in figure and ornamentation to the front cross-bar, 10, of the chair-seat, of which it apparently forms a part.

When desired for use the-frame m is drawn out, as in Fig. 3, the rest 1 being at first as shown in dotted lines, and then turned over on its hinges 9 to the fullline position, where it maybe secured, if desired, by the fastening device, shown as a hooked lever, 0', pivoted at 12 to the front bar, 0, and adapted to engage a pin, 8, on a cross-bar, t, of the sliding frame m.

The springs in are so placed as to tend to retain the foot-rest in either of its positions, the said springs being stretched while the rest is being inverted. A stop, 15, fastened on the sliding frame m, strikes the front crossbar, 10, of the chair-seat and prevents the said frame from being drawn wholly out from the chair.

A foot-rest of this kind can be well cushioned without interfering with its being pushed under the chair, as is the case where the rests cannot be inverted. It is also brought up into a higher and more desirable position.

I am aware that chairs have been used with pivoted backs and holding devices, therefor, and 1 do not broadly claim. such features.

1 claim 1. In a chair hai ing a movable back, the back and the righting-spring, having right and left handed coils, combined with the adj ustingratchet provided with a projection to engage the spring between its coils, and with the holding-dog, substantially as described.

2. In a chair, a foot-rest capable of being inverted and a sliding frame therefor, combined with the springs to, to retain it in either position, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the sliding frame, the foot-rest hinged to turn thereon, springs to re tain the foot-rest above or below its frame, and the fastening device to lock the said foot-rest in position for use, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

TERRENGE G. MAGUIRE.

Vitnesses:

J 0s. 1?; LIVERMORE, N. E. O. WHITNEY. 

